This invention relates to aesthetic and compact means for efficiently displaying multiple image works, which image works may include, among other things, works of art and photographs. More particularly, the invention relates to a means for displaying a plurality of carriers, in which one or more of the carriers may be selectively slid to be in a position which is out of the view of the observer. The image works to be viewed are housed on the carriers.
Various means for displaying created works such as works of literature, art, and the like, including paintings, murals, photographs, etc., have been devised over the years for the purposes of aiding the convenience of an observer desiring to view the works, and to also often add to the overall aesthetic appeal of the particular work. In the case of some artistic works, picture frames and pedestals are typical examples of such display unit. It is frequently the case that the design of a given display unit is custom-tailored to enhance or complement the specific work of which it is to assist in displaying. Thus, given the multiplicity of types of works which have been created and the various works within each type, it is of little surprise that the prior art is replete with a multitude of known means for displaying such works.
One example is U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,633 which provides a sliding panel display that includes a plurality of panels which are slidingly confined in a stepped array so as to overlap one another in a parallel orientation. In this display, each of the panels may be partially withdrawn independent relative to one another in parallel relation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,532 teaches a picture display device that includes an array of picture frames hinged together, as by an endless belt, in which the inner ends of the frame sections are attached to the endless belt. The frames radiate outwardly from the belt and are arrangeable in a pair of side-by-side packs in which the frames in each pack lie flat against each other, and in which the inner frame sections of one pack abut the inner frame sections of the other pack. The device includes a support to hold the packs in side-by-side relation in a manner which permits advancement of and guides the frames from one pack to the next. The frames and the support are arranged so that advancement of a frame from the end of one pack to the beginning of the next pack causes all of the other frames in the array to advance an incremental amount.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,430 provides an elongated price chip support strip or holder of the type utilized in menu and price display structures in fast food restaurants, which includes an elongated rectangular front panel portion that is provided along its length with a plurality of equidistantly spaced equal size price chip display openings. The front panel portion has a substantially flat front face and is provided on its rear side with a plurality of top-to-bottom extending spaced parallel ribs of equal thickness rearwardly of the front panel portion. The ribs are disposed on opposite sides of the price strip display openings, and the front panel portion is further provided in its rear side with a pair of parallel longitudinal ledges of the same thickness as the ribs rearwardly of the front panel section. The ledges define top and bottom longitudinal edges of the front panel portion.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,324 a board game is provided on which the players simulate a shopping trip to a mall by moving their playing markers along a route defined by rectangles which depict stores in the mall. There are cards having decorative portions of different designs in storage areas, and each player has a frame with a plurality of cavities for receiving and depicting the decorative portions of the cards. A replica of an outfitted mannequin is formed on the front face of the frame. Several windows of transparent material are formed in the front face of the frame within the replica of the mannequin so that the decorative portions of the cards which are inserted in the frame will be visible as portions of the outfit of the mannequin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,381 teaches a vehicle emergency sign which is designed to hang on a vehicle window so as to be visible to passing traffic. The sign is composed of multiple panels interconnected by sliding means which allow the sign to be retracted for convenient storage and extended to display a preprinted message. A bracket attached to a first panel has a hook portion for engaging the upper edge of a vehicle side window, and a support portion to aid in maintaining the sign in an extended position from the side of the vehicle.
Thus, a wide range of possible finished goods may be displayed using these and other means contained in the prior art. While these and many other prior art devices and methods associated with their use may have had as a common goal the display of a plurality of viewable xe2x80x9cworksxe2x80x9d in various fashions, none has thus far provided a single device having the capability for both housing and displaying a plurality of substantially flat works, such as photographs or the like, in which a particular work may be selectively viewed by an observer while those works not being viewed are maintained in a stored position, out of view. Further, none has provided a device and means for such storage and selective display which is well-suited to either rest on a surface such as a tabletop or to be hung on a wall by conventional means. Further still, none has provided such a device and means which as a whole is itself aesthetically pleasing, and which thus enhances the overall viewing experience of the observer.
The present invention satisfies all of the aforesaid features in which the prior art falls short, by providing means for storage and selective display of the entirety of each of a plurality of substantially flat works, such as photographs and the like, which means is itself aesthetically pleasing, and lends itself well to being placed atop stationary objects such as tabletops, or to being hung on a wall or other similar location. These and other beneficial features of the invention, as well as the advantages over display units of the prior art, shall become evident to one upon reading and understanding this specification and the appended claims.
The present invention provides a widely-variable and versatile system by which a plurality of image works may be efficiently stored in a single unit and in which a given image works may also be selectively displayed by a viewer to the complete or partial exclusion of other image works contained in the unit. Accordingly, a display device provided in accordance with this invention may take on several actual physical configurations without departing from the metes and bounds of design embraced by the invention""s principles.
According to one embodiment of the invention, a display unit as a whole is shaped substantially as a box or rectangular solid having a hollow inner portion and which is open on one face, and thus includes a top, a bottom, two sides, and a backing portion. The top portion is generally linear and resembles a board in one form of the invention, and has top and bottom surface portions, and first and second end portions. In a preferred embodiment, the bottom surface portion of the top portion includes a grooved channel of a selected width on its surface, so as to function as an upper track portion. The channel is preferably parallel to the length dimension of the top portion, and may in one form of the invention transverse its entire length. There is a bottom portion which has an upper surface, a lower surface, a first end portion, and a second end portion. The upper surface of the lower track portion preferably has a grooved channel on its surface, which channel is preferably parallel to the length dimension of the lower track portion and which channel is analogous to the channel on the surface of the lower surface of the upper track portion. The bottom portion thus may function as a lower track portion analogously to the top portion, by virtue of the grooved channel on the upper surface of the bottom portion.
The side portions are in one form of the invention substantially linear, and are each connectively disposed at the first end portions and second end portions of both the upper and lower track portions, respectively, to thus cause the assembly (display unit) as a whole to thus bear resemblance to a box or rectangular solid having a hollow in its interior. With a flat backing portion positioned to cover one of the faces of the geometric solid, i.e., the portion intended to be furthest away from the viewer, the resulting construction includes one open face.
The bottom surface of the upper track portion and the upper surface of the lower track portion are caused to be oriented in a substantially parallel orientation with respect to one another, which provides for slidable motion of a suitably-sized image works carrier that is confined within the grooves of the upper and lower track portions along the length dimension of the track portions, in analogous fashion to the motion of a common sliding glass patio door within its tracks. Under this arrangement it is preferable in one form of the invention for the image works carrier to exist, without limitation, in the form of a substantially flat square or rectangle which comprises parallel top and bottom edge portions of slightly less thickness than the width of the channels in the track portion, for then the top edge portion of the carrier readily resides within a channel on the bottom surface portion of the upper track portion, and the bottom edge portion of the carrier readily resides within a channel on the upper surface of the lower track portion.
The back portion covers the entire face of the rearmost part of the construction as viewed from an observer located at the open face or front of such a display unit as a whole. In one preferred form of the invention, the back portion has one or more image works mounted to it. In such an embodiment an image works which is affixed within a slidable image works carrier that disposed at its top and bottom portions within the grooved channels on the upper and lower track portions, may be positioned to block the line of sight to one or more image works which are mounted to the back portion. However, the image works carrier may be selectively moved along the length dimension of the display within the track portions by the hand of a viewer, to permit the viewing of such image works that are affixed to the back portion, and to thus render selective viewing in accordance with the principles of the invention.
These principles of variable viewing operation according to the invention may be extended to the case where the upper and lower track portions each include a plurality of adjacent parallel grooves which collectively provide for another track in which more than one image works carriers may be slidably contained, to permit a person to selectively view either an image works which is disposed on the back portion, an image works affixed in the carrier in the track nearest the viewer, or an image works affixed to a carrier that is disposed in between the track nearest the viewer and the backing portion. Such an embodiment provides a viewer with at least three choices of which image is seen at a given time, in cases when the length of the track portions are of a length equal to at least twice the width of an image works under consideration. Such an embodiment also provides an opportunity for ready comparison of a plurality of image works which are disposed side-by-side with respect to one another. A plurality of image works carriers may also be disposed beside one another within a single grooved track to dramatically increase the number of possible image works to be selectively viewed by a person in accordance with the principles of this invention.
Further extension of the principles of the invention provides an embodiment in which a top portion, which functions as an upper track portion, also simultaneously serves the common function of being the bottom portion for another display unit sharing a common leg, i.e., an embodiment wherein the top portion includes a groove on its bottom surface portion, and also includes a grooved channel on its top surface portion to enable the top surface portion or upper track of one display unit according to the invention to simultaneously serve as the bottom portion or lower track of another display unit according to the invention, in each of which display unit there are slidably housed at least one image works carrier. The principles of this invention are further extensible so that there are in fact no limit to the number of such units which may be xe2x80x9cstackedxe2x80x9d upon or beneath one another, the preferability of each particular embodiment being dictated by the individual user and the nature of the display contemplated. A top portion which functions as an upper track portion of one display unit according to the invention which also simultaneously serves as a bottom portion which functions as a lower track portion for another display unit according to the invention may have independently disposed about its upper and lower surfaces any number of grooved channels as are desired.
A variety of decorative woods, such as ordinary boards or boards having enhanced grains, picture frames, laminates, etc., may included to enhance the outward appearance of a display unit according to the invention being limited only by the imagination of those practicing its principles. In one preferred form of the invention, a display unit is contained within a picture frame. In another form of the invention, a display unit is contained within a decorative box which is suitable for placement on a table or stand.